The Best Indoor Cameras for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence isn’t just the stuff of science fiction. It’s equal parts thrilling and frightening, and may be essential to your home security.

Clearly, you don’t want to spend all day staring at your security camera’s livestream. You want to be notified only when something is happening that’s not supposed to happen, like an intruder stealing your jewelry or your toddlers eating in the formal living room. When it comes to emergencies, artificial intelligence, commonly referred to as AI, can bring you smarter, more specific notifications.

In the home security industry, artificial intelligence usually comes in the form of person detection, meaning that the camera can tell the difference between a person and a dog or another moving object. But it doesn’t stop there. Even more advanced cameras can detect natural speech patterns and even learn our schedules.

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor Camera

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor

The Tend Lynx is the most affordable option that we’ve seen for artificial intelligence. I have to be honest: at less than 60 dollars, I’m initially a little skeptical of the Lynx’s abilities. Sure, it’s got 1080p HD and two-way audio. But can it get the job done when it comes to artificial intelligence?

Surprisingly, this inexpensive little camera has facial recognition technology. I’ll admit that it’s not perfect- as I move my face in different angles, the camera isn’t always able to recognize me.But for the price point, I’m pretty impressed. The Lynx camera is a great option for people who want facial recognition at an affordable price.

Netatmo Welcome Indoor Security Camera

Netatmo Welcome Indoor Security Camera

The Netatmo Welcome Indoor Security Camera is beautifully designed, but it’s more than just a pretty face. It also has 1080p HD and amazing artificial intelligence capabilities.

Not only does the Netatmo have built-in person detection, it also has facial recognition technology. That means that it can differentiate between an intruder, your dog, and your family. Itcan recognize up to 32 faces!

What I like about Netatmo’s facial recognition technology is that it learns over time who should be in your house and who shouldn’t. You’ll only be notified when the camera recognizes someone it hasn’t seen before, saving you a lot of time checking the app. Instead, you’ll be notified via your Apple Watch or cell with the unfamiliar face itself. I love how instantaneous the notification is. As soon as an unfamiliar face comes into the camera’s line of vision, I’m notified and can decide how to proceed from there.

But the coolest feature of the Netatmo’s artificial intelligence is its integration with Facebook messenger. Just as you would type to a friend, you can ask a Facebook bot when people entered and exited your home. I love this feature because it takes something that you probably already use, Facebook messenger, and links it with the Netatmo Welcome to create a seamless customer experience.

Canary All-In-One

Canary All-In-One

Canary All-In-One

It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. No, it’s a Canary All-In-One! Corniness aside, the Canary-All-In-One is a great indoor camera. It has a field of view of 147 degrees and smart home integrations with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. As of a software update in February 2019, the Canary-All-In-One includes person detection.

More often than not, cameras with artificial intelligence have person detection as opposed to a more advanced facial recognition software. That means while the camera can tell the difference between people and other moving objects, it cannot recognize specific individuals. If you’re looking for solid person detection and don’t care so much about facial recognition, the Canary-All-In-One is a great choice for you.

Lighthouse Indoor Security Camera

Please note: as of December 2018, Lighthouse has gone out of business.

Lighthouse Box and Camera

They say that you should save the best for last, and as far as artificial intelligence goes, the Lighthouse Indoor Security Camera definitely takes the cake. It was named the number one artificial intelligence home security camera by Gizmodo and has been praised by the likes of Time Magazine and Forbes. Let’s see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

The camera has 1080p HD and a field of view of only 95 degrees, a little narrow considering the industry average is 120. Don’t worry though: the artificial intelligence more than makes up for the narrow field of view.

The Lighthouse Indoor not only detects movement; it can distinguish motion between objects like trees, cars, and even the pendulum on your grandfather clock. Even shadows and lighting changes won’t set off alerts, virtually eliminating false alarms. With this much artificial intelligence, you won’t bombarded with constant notifications. After all, a security camera is supposed to make your life easier, not harder. Using technology from self-driving cars, the camera works by creating a 3D model of the room it’s recording.

Like the Netatmo Welcome Indoor Security Camera, the Lighthouse Indoor has person detection and facial recognition, but it doesn’t stop at people. It can also recognize pets. As someone who has had a squirrel break into my apartment and eat all my cookies, I can’t even tell you how useful this feature would have been.

One cool feature of the Lighthouse Indoor is that it doesn’t require a separate smart home device like an Amazon Alexa. Instead, you can verbally ask the Lighthouse app for info. Either ask about the past (“when did the cleaning lady get here?”) or inquire about the future (“let me know when the kids get home”). Want to see what happened last Wednesday at three? Just ask the app, without even using your hands! Like any database, the camera’s footage is completely searchable. It’s a camera and a home security assistant rolled into one.

Overall, I was blown away by the Lighthouse’s artificial intelligence capabilities. Whether I was bearded, clean-shaven, draped with accessories or rocking a white T-shirt, the camera had no problem recognizing me. While a lot of camera’s facial recognition software only works some of the time, the Lighthouse has AI you can depend on.

Recap

These four cameras all have amazing capabilities, but some are more impressive than others. It really comes down to how much you value artificial intelligence for your indoor security camera. Let’s recap.

The Tend Secure Lynx Indoor Camera might be a good choice for you if you want:

Affordability

Two-way audio

Decent facial recognition software

The Canary All-in-One might be a good choice for you if you want:

An 147 degree field of view

Smart platform integration with Google and Amazon

Person detection

The Netatmo Welcome Security Camera might be a good choice for you if you want:

Person recognition for up to 32 faces

Pet detection

Smart notifications

Integration with Apple Watch

Communication through Facebook messenger

And finally, the Lighthouse Indoor Security Camera might be a good choice for you if you want:

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Gabe Turner is an attorney and journalist with a passion for home tech and secure, efficient living. Since graduating from NYU Law, he has maintained a paradoxical existence of trying to live life adventurously while remaining staunchly risk-averse. He is torn by the dual desires of wanting to only be in Brooklyn writing about housing policy and smart home tech and aspiring to visit his friends scattered across the globe. Gabe believes that stable, safe communities are the cornerstone to a vibrant and healthy society, and it is this passion that brought him to contribute to Security Baron.